The point of this is not to make feeding the homeless a crime or even illegal. This law would make it so the City can organize those that want to feed and cloth the homeless with its own efforts to do the same. Otherwise, we would have two sources of homeless services that are actively working against each other, one provided by the City that is implementing a rapid rehousing model (the favored model of HUD) and one provided by those looking to help the homeless that allows them to subsist on the streets. Instead, we should be working together.

Another point worth mentioning is that these organizations were reached out to by the City before this new law was considered. The organizations were not interested in working with the City, so this law is required to protect the City’s assets, its residents, and its investment in homeless services, which will actually solve the issue of homelessness. Random rewards does not solve homelessness.

Agree that this should not be illegal, but there should be a plan to offer this help in an orderly fashion, which does not misuse our public parks, making life unpleasant for area residents, and those wanting to use these park facilities.